Concern over children hit by bicyclists in Riverside Park
UPPER WEST SIDE, Manhattan (WABC) -- A mother in Manhattan is sounding the alarm over a danger in one local park.
She says there has been an increase in children being hit by bicyclists in Riverside Park.
In the latest incident, her child had to get several stitches for her injuries. The accident happened at about 5:30 Monday evening.
"We were looking at the boats but then when we turned around it was a split second and this guy came cruising down, probably honestly like 30 miles an hour, very fast," said Adrienne Rivetti Jensen. "He was yelling but he couldn't stop, and hit her."
Her youngest child, 4-year-old Mable, had been hit by the cyclist.
"She rolled and so I just quickly scooped her up, ran to the benches and started to clean her up," said Adrienne.
The cyclist was apologetic but Mable ended up at the emergency room needing stitches.
There, Adrienne learned Mable was the second child hit that day by a bike, and a third arrived a short time later.
"A dad came in with a toddler who had been hit at Central Park while in a stroller by a cyclist," said Adrienne. "And this man's wife was being X-rayed because she had also been hit. And I was just thinking, what the heck is happening in these parks?"
Mable's accident happened in a shared pathway, but even where there are bike lanes there are collisions.
"The locals go fast because they know what they're doing," one man said. "There's more speed racers than the tourists who are visiting on rental bikes."
"I hope more rules go into effect," said Rivetti Jensen. "And in a crowded area like this, either some speed bumps or honestly, just dismount and walk through."
Until then, she hopes that bike riders will think twice before hitting those high speeds.
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